Jockey Charlie Deutsch jailed after high-speed police pursuit

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Charlie Deutsch was found to be a little less than one and a half times the legal alcohol limit

A top jockey who sped away from police at up to 114mph after a roadside breath test has been jailed for 10 months.

The drama unfolded when Charlie Deutsch, 21, was pulled over in Cheltenham after a night out in March.

He took six attempts to blow into a breathalyser before he was arrested, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

At this point Deutsch ran back to his Audi, which had other jockeys inside, and sped off. He was then pursued by police for nearly five miles.

The court heard how Sgt Marcus Forbes-George had tried to stop him at the roadside by smashing the driver’s door to take the ignition key, and the officer hurt his arm during his attempt to immobilise the fleeing jockey.

‘Remarkably stupid’

His vehicle was eventually stopped with a stinger, the court heard.

During the chase, in the early hours of 30 March, Deutsch drove the wrong way around a roundabout and on the wrong side of the road.

Image copyrightPA

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Deutsch (in red), who has ridden 90 winners as a jump jockey, fell at Becher’s Brook in this year’s Grand National

The jockey, from Beckford Road in Tewkesbury, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving while over the legal alcohol limit and escaping from police custody.

In mitigation, the court was told by Deutsch’s lawyer he was a “sensible young man” who had “done something remarkably stupid”.

Sentencing the young horseman, Recorder James Watson QC told him his conduct had been “outrageous”.

“Those who resist arrest involving violent struggles and cause injury to police officers must not expect a custodial sentence to be suspended,” he said.